Wednesday, April 25, 2012

MassTLC's healthcare community convened yesterday at Wilmer Hale in Waltham to discuss the need and challenges for technology solutions for providers under payment reform. Sarah Iselin, President, BCBS of Massachusetts Foundation, set the stage when she described their research and the importance of technology under reform. There is no debate that Massachusetts has the lowest uninsured population at approximately 2%. However, despite the low number of uninsured, Massachusetts also spends more per person on healthcare than anywhere in the U.S., or the world, for that matter. And the more we spend on healthcare, the less we have to spend on other services that are shown to have a huge impact on the overall health of our population:
On a somber note, if the path continues, costs are projected to double by 2020. When Massachusetts set out to insure its citizens in 2006, they went in knowing they were focused on coverage and not costs. Now, in 2012 the focus is on cost containment with a new bill is expected to be filed within the next few weeks. Sarah's complete presentation shows much more than what we were able to cover in our two-hour morning session - please be sure to take a look here.
As we move forward and look towards change and cost containment, there is broad agreement that costs have to slow down, and the need for payment reform and technology has never been greater. Take a look here at the impact of medical technology on health value.
Our panel of experts including Puneet Batra, Chief Data Scientist, Kyruus, Frank Calderaro, Global Alliances, Healthcare, CA Technologies, Dr. Gary Goldsmith, Medical Informatics Specialist, Dept. of Quality & Safety, Mount Auburn Hospital and Dr. Steven Locke, Co-founder & CEO, Veritas Health Solutions all shared their perspectives for moving forward. Some of the discussion was focused on the data presented in the slide below. Dr. Locke commented that the gains actually are quite small and we need to think outside the box to realize change. How the system is reimbursed is what is going to drive major change.
Lastly, we are very pleased that we have confirmed Dana Safran, SVP of Performance Measurement and Improvement from BCBSMA to keynote the June 8th session on Patient Engagement. Details and registration can be found here.
Thank you to all that attended and participated in the session!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Massachusetts Office of International Trade and Investment (MOITI), in collaboration with the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center (MSBDC) and the Massachusetts Export Center (MEC), recently launched the Massachusetts State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) Grant Program through a grant from the United States Small Business Administration (SBA). The STEP grant program offers financial assistance to eligible Massachusetts small businesses seeking new and increased export sales of their goods and services. The grant program is intended to help offset international business development and related marketing costs for small businesses.

Grants under the STEP Program will be capped at $10,000 per business to reimburse for costs associated with projects, activities or services undertaken during the period March 1, 2012 to September 29, 2012. Each grant recipient will be required to provide a match to cover 25% of the total approved cost for any project, activity or service.

MOITI will accept submissions for consideration from April 16 - May 15, 2012.